Filling of containers with liquids which are deleteriously influenced by contact with air

ABSTRACT

Containers to be filled are advanced towards a filling station, and immediately upstream of the filling station they have their interior flushed with inert gas whereupon they are immediately supplied to the filling station, have the inert gas evacuated and are filled with liquid.

United States Patent i191 Knabe et al.

[u1 3,865,157 i451 Feb. 11, 1975 [54] FILLING OF CONTAINERS WITH LIQUIDSWHICH ARE DELETERIOUSLY INFLUENCED BY CONTACT WITH AIR [75] Inventors:Uwe Knabe, DO-Hombruch;

Werner Heckmann, Dortmund;

Friedrich Rademacher, Kamen-Sudkamen, all of Germany [73] Assignee:Holstein & Kappert Maschinenfabrik Phonix GmbH, Dortmund, Germany |22|Filed: .11m19.197s

[zu Appl. No.: 325,011

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Jan. 22, 1972 Germany 2203075[52] U.S. Cl. 141/7 [5l] Int. Cl. B676 3/10 [58] Field of Searchl41/4-7, 47,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,138,356 ll/l938 Ryan et al141/7 2,723,790 ll/l955 Spiess, Jr. et al. 141/7 X 2,801,651 8/1957Street l4l/4 2,808,856 10/1957 Tiano etal 141/7 2,820,489 l/l958 Dayetal. 141/7 Primary Examiner- Richard E. Aegerter AssistantE.\'aminer-Charles E. Phillips Anm-nav, Agent, or Firm-Michael S.Striker [57| ABSTRACT Containers to be filled are advanced towards afilling station, and immediately upstream ofthe filling station theyhave their interior flushed with inert gas whereupon they areimmediately supplied to the filling station, have the inert gasevacuated and are filled with liquid.

- 8 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PTENTED FEB] l IEUS sum 1 gf PTENTED EEB]l |975 SHEET 30E 3 FILLING OF CONTAINERS WITH LIQUIDS WHICH AREDELETERIOUSLY INFLUENCED BY CONTACT WITH AIR BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention is concerned with the filling of containers withliquids, and more particularly with the filling of containers withliquids which are deleteriously influenced by contact with air. Stillmore particularly, the present invention is concerned with a method offilling such containers with such liquids and with an apparatus forcarrying out the method.

Many liquids which are to be filled into containers are deleteriouslyinfluenced by contact with air when oxidation takes place and results ina change of the color of the liquid, of the taste and/or the shelf life.lt is therefore one of the important concerns of the bottling industry(the term should be understood as relating to the introduction ofliquids not only into bottles but also into cans, cartons and the like)to assure that as little air as possible remains in the container whenthe same is filled with liquid.

The problems having long been realized, various approaches have beensuggested to overcome it. A particularly advantageous approach which hasbeen used in the art is the pre-evacuation of air. According to thismethod, the containers are closed, are moved against the fillinginstrumentality at the filling station, and are evacuated whereupon theyare filled. However, even in `this way it is not possible to entirelyremove the air from the container so that some air will` always beincluded in the filled container and will be able to exert itsdisadvantageous influence upon the container con tents. In addition,there are certain types of containers which are subject to deformation,such as bottles of `synthetic plastic material, cans of light metal orsynthetic plastic material, and other containers, in which only a verysmall amount of suction can be produced during the evacuation in orderto avoid damage to the containers. This, of course, means that theamount of air that can be evacuated will be correspondingly less, andthe efficiency of the method will be further reduced. Consideration hasbeen given to increasing the length of time during which the individualcontainer, which is connected with the filling instrumentality of thefilling station, is subjected to underpressure in order to increase theamount of air that can be evacu ated, and at the same time to flush thecontainer with an inert gas. However` this necessarily results in asubstantial decrease of the throughput per unit of time, because duringthe time during which the container is connected with the fillinginstrumentality the latter is not available for connection with anothercontainer. This is not acceptable because modern bottling machines areconstructed and intended for high-speed operation and must be utilizedin this manner in order to produce economically.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is, accordingly, a general object of thepresent invention to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art.

More particularly, it is an object of the invention to provide animproved method of filling containers with liquids which are to beprotected against contact with air.

Still more particularly it is an object to provide such an improvedmethod which is capable of removing all or substantially all of` the airfromgthe interior of the container.

Another object of the invention is to provide such improved method whichdoes not cause any decrease in the throughput per unit of time of` thefilling apparatus on which it is practiced.

Another object of the invention is to provide such a method which iscapable of removing almost all of the air from a container even if theyare of a type which is highly susceptible to deformation, such .asplastic containers or the like.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved apparatus ormachine for carrying out the novel method.

In keeping with these objects, and others which will become apparenthereafter, one feature of the invention resides in a method of fillingcontainers with liquids which are deleteriously influenced by contactwith air. Briefly stated, the novel method comprises the steps ofadvancing the containers to be filled towards a filling station,flushing the interior of the containers immediately upstream of thefilling station with inert gas, and thereupon immediately supplying theflushed container to the filling station for filling with liquid.

Thus it will be seen that the air is removed from the interior of eachcontainer before the latter is moved into engagement with a fillinginstrumentality of the filling station. This isaccomplished by flushingthe interior of the respective container immediately upstream of thefilling station with inert gas, which displaces by far the major portionof the air from the container, leaving behind only a small proportion ofair which forms a mixture with the inert gas in the container. Ofcourse, in this mixture the proportion of air has already beensignificantly reduced. Subsequently the container is then supplied tothe filling station Where it is connected with the fillinginstrumentality. It may now be either filled with the liquid displacingthe air-inert gas mixture, or the mixture may be first evacuated fromthe interior of the container before the latter is filled. Due to thehigh concentration of inert gas, the deleterious proportion of air iswithdrawn or expelled almost completely from the container, even if aseparate step of evacuating the interior of the container is notutilized. ln the latter case, also, a much less deleterious effect canbe expected due to the relatively high concentration of inert gas in themixture in the container which mixture moves into the gas compartment ofthe filling machine as it is expelled by the incoming liquid.

The novel machine for carrying out the method utilizes a filling stationfor the containers, transporting means for transporting the containersto the filling station, and nozzle means on the transporting means forintroducing the inert gas into the container being transported so as toflush their interiors prior to filling at the filling station.Advantageously, the transporting means is in the form of a star-wheelconveyor, which is in any case utilized in machines for filling ofcontainers with liquid so that special measures for the introduction ofthe inert gas or for the evacuation of the container, as would berequired if the container were already in contact with the fillinginstrumentality `atthe time the introduction or evacuation occurs, canthereby be avoided. This makes the construction less expensive and lesssubject to malfunction. Also, an evacuation of containers subject todeformation, such as plastic containers, can be carried out much moresuccessfully than heretofore because due to the drastically reducedproportion of air in the air-inert gas mixture, the amount of suctionrequired can be decreased beyond what has been known heretofore in theart.

The filling station is provided, in conventional manner, with acontainer-supporting table which rotates so as to supply the containersto filling instrumentalities. According to the invention it has beenfound advantageous if the transporting means supplies the containerstangentially to the rotary path described by the table.

It is advantageous if the nozzle means on the transporting means,particularly if the latter is a star-wheel conveyor, is associated witha rotary distributor which connects the nozzle means associated with therespective containers carried by the star-wheel conveyor with a sourceof supply for the inert gas when a specific preselected occasion occurs,for instance when a container has been first engaged by the star-wheelconveyor. This of course drastically reduces the amount of inert gasrequired and facilitates economic operation of the novel machine.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for theinvention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. Theinvention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method ofoperation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, willbest be understood from the following description of specificembodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. l is a fragmentary perspectivedetail view showing a portion of a filling station, the transportingmeans which supplies containers to the filling station, and the nozzlemeans for the inert gas;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary cross-section showing a detail of FIG. l;

FIG. 3 is a top-plan view of the components shown in FIG. l;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary detail view showing a portion of FIG. 3; and

FIG. S is a partly sectioned elevational detail view illustrating afurther embodiment of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Discussing now firstly theembodiment illustrated in FIGS. l-4, it will be seen that the novelfilling machines has a conventional filling station known to thoseskilled in the art. It has a container-supporting table l with containersupports 2 provided thereon. Above the container supports 2 are arrangedthe filling instrumentalities 3 of the filling station. A transportingand transferring arrangement 4 is associated with the table l and isprovided with an advancing means in the form of a feed screw 5 whichengages the incoming containers 8 and spaces them in the mannernecessary for them to be supplied sequentially to the arrangement 4.

In the illustrated embodiment the transporting means utilizes astar-wheel conveyor 6 which has pockets 7 each of which is toaccommodate one of the containers 8 and to subsequently yield it to thesupports 2. The containers 8 are inserted into the pockets 7, havingbeen fed by the screw 5. The pockets 7 are approximately semi-circularin configuration as shown, and at their upper end l0 which faces theupper open end 9 of the containers 8, there are provided nozzles 11which are fed via a bore 14 but can be connected with a gas supplysource 13 via a rotary distributor 12. Thus, inert gas can be introducedvia the nozzles 1l into the upper open ends 9 of the respectivecontainers 8. FIG. 4 shows that the nozzles 11 may be in form of tubesmounted on the star-wheel conveyor 6.

In the embodiment of FIG. 3, which otherwise corresponds to that ofFIGS. 1-4, there is provided a transporting and transferring arrangementwhich supplies the containers 8 tangentially to the circular path of thesupports 2 of the table, the circular movement being indicated by thearrow. Above the transporting and transferring arrangement, which inFIG. 5 is indicated with reference numeral 13, there are providedstationary gas nozzles ll which are mounted on a carrier 16. However,these nozzles 11 could also be made pivotable or tiltable in thedirection of movement of the containers 8, or they can be made to movewith the containers in a to-and-fro fashion.

It should be mentioned that it is also possible to direct gas out of thegas nozzles as the containers 8 are raised by the supports 2 against thefilling instrumentality 3.

In operation of the invention, the screw S supplies the containers 8seriatim to the star-wheel conveyor 6, so that they enter into thepockets 7. The star-wheel 6 of course rotates and the containers 8 aretherefore moved along a track 17. At the moment at which the containers8 enter the respective pockets 7, the rotary distributor 12 initiatesthe supply of inert gas through the nozzles l1 which flush the interiorof the respective container 8 with the inert gas. The supply of gas ismaintained until the respective container leaves the pocket 7 and movesonto one of the supports 2 of the table l. This means that approximatelyhalf the circumference of the star-wheel conveyor 6 is available for theadmission of inert gas into each container, that is while each containertravels in a path corresponding to half the circumference it has inertgas admitted into it.

Immediately after a container 8 has been discharged onto one of thesupports 2, the container is sealingly connected with the fillinginstrumentality 3 in a manner that is conventional and well known tothose skilled in the art. Now, the container can be evacuated, which isalso known from the art, and subsequently the container is filled,removed from the table 1 by the second star-wheel conveyor 18 and movedalong to another processing station. It goes without saying that thestarwheel conveyor 18 may itself be provided with nozzles for admittingadditional inert gas, and in conjunction with similar arrangementsprovided at the closure station of the machine (the closure station isnot illustrated but known to those skilled in the art) this assures anexceedingly high concentration of inert gas above the level of theliquid in the respective container 8. Such an arrangement isparticularly advantageous if the second star-wheel conveyor 18 serves atthe same time to insert the filled containers into the closure station,because in this manner the container will be advanced up to the movementof closure under a protective inert gas which prevents contact of airwith its contents. Of course, even if for any reason the evacuation ofthe airgas mixture from the interior of the container is not possible ornot intended, for instance if the containers are too thin-walled forthis approach, so that after supplying to the support 2 the container isimmediately filled rather than evacuated, a substantial reduction of thedeleterious air content in the container is nevertheless obtained inaccordance with the present invention.

lt will be understood that each of the elements described above, or twoor more together, may also find a useful application in other types ofconstructions differing from the types described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and described in the filling ofcontainers with liquid, it is not intended to be limited to the detailsshown, since various modifications and structural changes may be madewithout in any way departing from the spirit and concept of the presentinvention.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist ofthe present invention that others can by applying current knowledgereadily adapt it for various applications without omitting features thatfrom the standpoint of prior art fairly constitute essentialcharacteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this inventionand, therefore, such adaptations and modifications should and areintended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalenceof the following claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent isset forth in the appended claims:

l. A method of filling containers with liquids which are deleteriouslyinfluenced by contact with air, comprising the steps of continuouslymoving a stream of containers towards a filling station; flushing theinterior of each container while it is moving immediately upstream ofthefilling station with inert gas just prior to the arrival of thecontainer at the filling station; presenting the just flushed advancingcontainer at the filling station; and filling the container with liquidwhile it is located at said filling station,

2. A method as defined in claim 1; and further comprising the step ofevacuating the interior of each flushed container at said fillingstation and immediately prior to filling with liquid.

3. In a machine for filling containers with liluid, a combinationcomprising a filling 'station for the containers; advancing means foradvancing a stream of said containers towards a transporting means; saidtransporting means engaging successive ones of said containers andpresenting them sequentially at said filling station; nozzle meansmounted on and movable with said transporting means for flushing theinteriors of the successive containers with inert gas while the latterare being transported for presentation at said filling station; andfilling means for filling each flushed container with liquid at saidfilling station.

4. A combination as defined in claim 3, wherein said transporting meanscomprises a star-wheel conveyor.

5. A combination as defined in. claim 3, said filling station having acontainer table arranged to rotate with the containers supplied thereto;and wherein said transporting means is arranged to supply flushedcontainers to said filling station tangentially of the circular pathdescribed by the rotating container table.

6. A combination as defined in claim 3, said transporting meanscomprising a rotary star-wheel conveyor; further comprising a source ofinert gas; and distributor means for connecting said nozzlessequentially with said source in response to rotation of said starwheelconveyor.

7. A combination as defined in claim 6, said starwheel conveyor having aplurality of spokes consecutive ones of which define transportingpositions for respective containers; and wherein said nozzles arelocated at the respective transporting positions.

8. A combination as defined in claim 7, wherein said distributor meansconnects the nozzle of a respective transporting position with saidsource in response to the transporting position reaching a predeterminedan-

1. A method of filling containers with liquids which are deleteriouslyinfluenced by contact with air, comprising the steps of continuouslymoving a stream of containers towards a filling station; flushing theinterior of each container while it is moving immediately upstream ofthe filling station with inert gas just prior to the arrival of thecontainer at the filling station; presenting the just flushed advancingcontainer at the filling station; and filling the container with liquidwhile it is located at said filling station.
 2. A method as defined inclaim 1; and further comprising the step of evacuating the interior ofeach flushed container at said filling station and immediately prior tofilling with liquid.
 3. In a machine for filling containers with li1uid,a combination comprising a filling station for the containers; advancingmeans for advancing a stream of said containers towards a transportingmeans; said transporting means engaging successive ones of saidcontainers and presenting them sequentially at said filling station;nozzle means mounted on and movable with said transporting means forflushing the interiors of the successive containers with inert gas whilethe latter are being transported for presentation at said fillingstation; and filling means for filling each flushed container withliquid at said filling station.
 4. A combination as defined in claim 3,wherein said transporting means comprises a star-wheel conveyor.
 5. Acombination as defined in claim 3, said filling station having acontainer table arranged to rotate with the containers supplied thereto;and wherein said transporting means is arranged to supply flushedcontainers to said filling station tangentially of the circular pathdescribed by the rotating container table.
 6. A combination as definedin claim 3, said transporting means comprising a rotary star-wheelconveyor; further comprising a source of inert gas; and distributormeans for connecting said nozzles sequentially with said source inresponse to rotation of said star-wheel conveyor.
 7. A combination asdefined in claim 6, said star-wheel conveyor having a plurality ofspokes consecutive ones of which define transporting positions forrespective containers; and wherein said nozzles are located at therespective transporting positions.
 8. A combination as defined in claim7, wherein said distributor means connects the nozzle of a respectivetransporting position with said source in response to the transportingposition reaching a predetermined angular location.